In a happy jolt of casting news, Hailee Steinfeld – the 17-year-old who got an Oscar nomination for 2010’s True Grit – has signed up for an undisclosed role in the sequel, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The actress later took to Twitter to share the news, writing, “It’s official and I’m SO excited!” She also attached a Twitpic of her from the movie’s official Twitter feed splashed with the words “Welcome to the Bellas, Hailee Steinfeld,” as it name-checked the a cappella group that rocked the first film.

The movie, for which Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick will reprise their roles as members of the Barden Bellas singers, hits theaters next May.

The plot hasn’t been revealed, but Kendrick and Wilson’s characters are expected to be graduating seniors. They were incoming freshmen in the first film, which was released in 2012 and became a word-of-mouth hit.

In late April, on the first day of rehearsals for the sequel, Wilson posted a photo to Twitter of herself with the film’s director, Elizabeth Banks, and fellow cast members Ester Dean, Brittany Snow, Kelley Jakle, Alexis Knapp and Hana Mae Lee.

The movie is being shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the filmmakers are still looking for extras to play “male and female hipsters and hippie types (age range is 20s-30s),” according to the Baton Rouge Film Commission’s Facebook page.

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